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    “2019-2020: A Year of Achievements” highlights ICESCO major achievements

    The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) prepared a report on the key achievements accomplished by ICESCO General Directorate in a year, since Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General, took office in 9 May 2019. The report was disseminated to the respective members of the General Conference and Executive Council, as well as the National Commissions of the Organization’s 54 Member States.

    At the beginning of the report, the Director General gave a brief statement, “I was honored to assume the position of ICESCO Director General and earn the trust of the Member States during the Extraordinary Session of ICESCO General Conference, held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on 9 May 2019. This date marks the beginning of a new promising phase in the Organization’s history and reflects our commitment to consolidate its gains; adopt renewal, enhancement and innovation measures, and overhaul the Organization’s working culture”. The Director General added that the goal was to make ICESCO a beacon of global outreach within its realms of competence, able to overcome challenges and keep pace with regional and international changes. “The aim was also to promote multilateral cooperation and partnerships, decentralizing efforts to further reflect the ground realities of education, science, and culture at all levels.  It responds to the aspirations of the Islamic world for sustainable development and a prosperous future through developments of projects, programmes, and initiatives with concrete field impact on the targeted categories”, the Director General ascertained.  

    “2019-2020: A Year of Achievements” first highlights aspects of the new ICESCO’s governance model, most notably the modification of the Organization’s name and logo, development of a new strategic vision, and devising a new organizational structure of the Organization. The report also mentions the creation of new centers and departments, the drafting of a new Charter, as well as compliant regulations consistent with the international policies applicable in similar institutions.  Furthermore, the digitization and utilization of the working methodologies and modern technology are, respectively, now being initiated to facilitate the implementation of projects and programmes, including the automation of administrative and communication systems with reputed external parties.

    The report also features the adoption of new financial regulations that are on par with the new international financial and accounting standards.  More importantly, a payment scheme for the outstanding arrears of Member States to ICESCO’s budget by allocating significant portion of these financial obligations to implementing projects in Member States.  Also, additional funding sources for the Organization’s budget is now being sought from external sources with the setting up ICESCO Waqf Development Fund to ensure the stability of the Organization’s financial resources.
    As for the development of partnership and cooperation, the report highlights the Organization’s achievements over a year that includes the establishment of the International Consultative Council; the reopening ICESCO Office at UNESCO in Paris; the signing new programme agreement with UNESCO; and the preparation of a draft charter for the National Commissions; and, the draft framework status for ICESCO’s Observer States aimed at promoting partnership with non-Member States, regional and international organizations.

    The report also mentions the Organization’s environment-friendly conferences and forums that uphold foresight and social changes, including the Conference of Environment Ministers of the Islamic World, Conference of Culture Ministers, ICESCO Cultural Forum, and the Future Forum.

    Finally, the report discusses key initiatives, programmes, and projects launched by the Organization amid the coronavirus outbreak, which aimed to support the efforts of ICESCO Member States to mitigate the crisis impact, and encourage scientific research and use of modern technology and AI applications in the Islamic world to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

    ICESCO Director General:  Covid-19 is an opportunity for women to make “women empowerment” a thing of the past

    Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), reaffirmed that there is impressive and significant progress in the causes of women in terms of their cultural advancement and developmental contributions. “Although illiteracy rate is still as high as 45%, especially in the rural and remote areas of our countries, the progress of women’s role in various fields and their efforts towards them deserves recognition. Even though the universalization of the right to education still faces many obstacles, this should not deter pushing for further efforts to promote women’s status. In this regard, ICESCO is committed to devoting the largest share in its plans and programmes to this matter,” ICESCO Director General highlighted.  

    This remark was an excerpt from Dr.AlMalik’s address at the symposium held by the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), via videoconferencing, on “The role of women in reshaping the Arab world’s cultural map in the post-Covid-19 period”, with the participation of Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, ALECSO Director General; Dr. Jamila El Moussali, Moroccan Minister of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family; Ms. Sameera Rajab, Minister and Advisor to the Bahraini Royal Court; and several experts and specialists in the cultural field.
    In this vein, Dr. AlMalik stated that ICESCO’s new vision supports women both in terms of its staff members and its activities and programmes implemented in the Member States or at its headquarters. For instance, as part of its renewal process, the Organization has recruited women to serve in its various sectors. “There are women at the head of some major sectors such as Education, Human and Social Sciences, and the General Secretariat of Conferences and National Commissions. ICESCO also hired a good number of qualified and competent women, especially in the administrative and financial services, as well as other special posts in many technical and executive fields.

    As for its activities, ICESCO seeks, through its new vision for the whole cultural and social activities in the Islamic world, to empower women through the establishment of the network of Muslim women scientists intended to embrace women’s scientific and intellectual contributions. Moreover, ICESCO has been particularly keen in its initiatives to focus on women’s entitlements, especially in the sector of education. In addition, the Organization pays special attention to women under its initiative, “The Societies We Want,” launched the last week,” ICESCO Director General added.

    In closing, Dr. AlMalik called on women to seize the opportunity of Covid-19 crisis to prove that the time is ripe for “women empowerment” to become a thing of the past. “The role of women is necessary not only for satisfying the needs of society but also for its prosperity and for achieving the better society we want,” he further stressed.

    ICESCO and NAUSS to hold webinar on the role of advanced technology and scientific research in addressing crises and disasters

    The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and Naïf Arab University for Security Sciences (NAUSS) will co-organize a webinar on “the Role of Advanced Technology and Scientific Research in Addressing Crises and Disasters” on Monday 11 May 2020.

    As an integral part of various efforts underway to handle the adverse repercussions of Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), the webinar aims to raise awareness among the scientific community, executives, decision-makers, and end-users on the importance of modern and cutting-edge technology in use during crises and disasters. It also seeks to help ICESCO Member States apply innovative technology and best practices, promote scientific research and cooperation, and share experiences on the use of advanced technology in the fight against epidemics, disasters, and crises.

    The webinar features two topics: “Scientific research and technology development in fighting disasters and crises” and “Successful experiences and technology initiatives in the development of research and technology during crises and disasters.”
    Experts and interested public who wish to participate are invited register at this link:

    https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/725595617509938958

    ICESCO announces its new “Bayan” Award for Creative Expression in Arabic for non-Arabic speakers

    The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) announced the launch of its new “Bayan” Award for Creative Expression in Arabic, as part of “ICESCO Digital Home” and in line with its education initiative, “Learn and Master Arabic at Home”.

    The Award will reward winners from the three age categories: youth (US$ 2000); teens (US$ 1500) and children (US$ 1000).

    For its part, ICESCO stated that the Award aims to promote students’ creative productivity in Arabic during lockdown; highlight the universality of Arabic; support the continuity of the learning process; ensure complementarities between the educational and cultural dimensions; and catalyse self-development of linguistic skills through creative writing and verbal expression.

    The Award covers creative expression where the student records his pronunciation and diction on a video based on a text he/she wrote in standard Arabic specifically for this contest (verse/prose, article, short story). The nominated works should work under the following themes: distance learning; family in the time of lockdown; hygiene and health; necessity is the mother of innovation; solidarity during the state of emergency; the world post-covid-19; investing time during lockdown; and communication in the time of social distancing.

    To be nominated for the Award, the following criteria should be met:

    -The candidate must be a student from a non-Arab country, whose first language is not Arabic;

    -The work must be submitted through the student’s educational institution;

    -The educational institution must only send one outstanding work for each category;

    -Nominations received from Member States must be submitted through the National Commissions and competent parties;

    -The video must not exceed 3 minutes in length for children, 4 minutes for teens, and 5 minutes for young people;

    -The video must not have been published or submitted to another competition before;

    -The nomination file must include the video, the text written by the student and the nomination form duly filled in. The form is available at:

    http://www.icesco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Nomination-Form-ICESCO-Bayan-Award.pdf

    Nominations must be sent prior to 31 May 2020 to the following e-mail: bayanaward@icesco.org

    ICESCO also pointed out that a jury will be tasked with examining nomination files and selecting winners who will be announced on ICESCO’s website via official letters to the competent parties. In addition to the monetary reward, the winners will be given certificates at a ceremony to be held after the end of lockdown.

    It is worth mentioning that ICESCO has launched, through its Center of Arabic for non-Arabic Speakers, the initiative “Learn Arabic, Master it at Home”, in cooperation with “Granada Editions” and the “Saudi Electronic University” to allow free access to educational digital contents by non-Arabic speaking students from all over the world.

    ICESCO and Sharjah Library allow free access to six million e-books

    In response to the initiatives of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) to support the efforts underway to limit the repercussions of Coronavirus on the educational, scientific and cultural fields, Sharjah Library approved to open access to more than six million e-books and digital knowledge resources for free, in a bid to contribute to enrich the contents of “ICESCO Digital Home” and “Distance Culture” initiatives.

    The access to the Library is open to the public free of charge to explore the collection of e-books and resources in more than ten languages during the entry into force of the lockdown to halt the spread of Coronavirus. The Library is accessible through ICESCO’s website at this link:
    https://www.icesco.org/%d8%aa%d8%ab%d9%82%d9%81-%d8%b9%d9%86-%d8%a8%d8%b9%d8%af/

    The accessible content covers more than 30,000 videos spanning all fields and disciplines, 160,000 e-books, 5 million global dissertations, 21,000 periodicals and scholarly journals alongside a large number of manuscripts, rare books, audiobooks, and e-books.

    This unique collection of resources will enrich the content of “ICESCO Digital Home,” covering the Organization’s areas of engagement designed to cater to the interests of all age categories in these fields.

    It is worth noting that Sharjah Library was established initially as the Qasimi Library in 1925 by Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah (1924-1951), at his palace. The headquarters of the Library had been moved on several occasions until May 2011 when His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, opened its new headquarters at the Cultural Square and under a new name “Sharjah Public Library”.

    ICESCO officially launches “Societies We Want” Initiative to contribute to post-COVID-19 world foresight

    Today, the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) launched the “Societies We Want” initiative to spread knowledge and implement innovative programmes to build healthy, peaceful, prosperous, inclusive and resilient societies, a need that surfaced at the time of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

    The initiative was launched during a meeting held through a remote platform with the participation of Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General; H.E. Dr. Lalla Malika Issoufou, First Lady of the Republic of Niger; H.R.H Princess Lamia bint Majed Saud Al-Saud, Secretary General of Alwaleed Philanthropies; H.E. Mr. Mamadou Talla, Minister of Education and Illiteracy of the Republic of Senegal; H.E. Ms. Jamila El Moussalli, Minister of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family of the Kingdom of Morocco; as well as a host of experts and specialists in human and social sciences and strategic foresight.

    At the opening of the meeting, Dr. AlMalik stated that that the post-Covid-19 world will be so different and this makes it imperative for countries, organizations, and civil society institutions to take proactive measures instead of giving up, hence the need to build the societies we want. He added that societies suffer from vulnerabilities that have manifested in various patterns with the massive spread of Covid-19. “Family violence has dramatically surged disrupting societies and their delicate balances. It is perhaps a good opportunity during this exceptional global health situation to determine the fields that should be improved to build the societies we want”, Dr. AlMalik explained.

    “The launch of ‘the Societies We Want’ initiative emanates from its sense of responsibility and the situation of human and social sciences within our policies, programmes and daily conduct. This is the best time to build the human capital needed in our societies. We should unify our efforts in disseminating knowledge through the perceptions of our human and social sciences to empower the scientific exploration programmes to attain our objectives and build cohesive, prosperous and vital societies to fulfill our great battle cry ‘One World… One Humanity’”, ICESCO Director General added.

    Afterward, H.E. Dr. Lalla Malika Issoufou, First Lady of the Republic of Niger, took the floor and first thanked ICESCO and its Director General for the invitation to participate in the launch of the of this “innovative” initiative to develop societies as we want them to be. As the world so far has not discovered a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19 and that social distancing remains the only effective measure to address the pandemic, Dr. Issoufou stressed the need for international cooperation and involvement in this initiative as a cooperation model for building a better future for the disadvantaged social categories, namely children and women. In this vein, she reaffirmed Niger’s support to the initiative and all the initiatives put forward by ICESCO to counter the pandemic.

    Subsequently, HRH Princess Lamia bint Majed Saud Al-Saud, Secretary General of Alwaleed Philanthropies, delivered an address wherein she stated that, despite the fear that seized the world during Coronavirus pandemic, it would get through the crisis stronger than before, pointing out that ICESCO’s new initiative will considerably contribute to making better use of the pandemic to develop societies and empower women. Moreover, she lauded the joint action between Alwaleed Philanthropies and ICESCO in the humanitarian field and the support they extend to Member States to address the repercussions of Coronavirus and help the neediest societies overcome the crisis.

    On the other hand, Mr. Mamadou Talla, Minister of Education and Illiteracy of the Republic of Senegal, stated that humanity had not witnessed similar pandemics since so many years, hence the need for reflecting on the present situation of societies, their capability to face disasters and on the world of our dreams. In addition, Dr. Talla reaffirmed that despite humanity’s technological progress, no one can envision an end to the pandemic and that the world has fallen into an unimaginable state of vulnerability. Such a situation, Dr. Talla concludes, compels research institutions and centers and individuals to rethink the future and analyze and examine the current unfolding events while congratulating ICESCO and its Director General for the initiative.  

    In her address, Ms. Jamila El Moussalli, Minister of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family of the Kingdom of Morocco, expressed her satisfaction with participation in the launch of the “Societies We Want” initiative which, according to her, comes as part of ICESCO’s initiatives to support efforts of fighting Coronavirus pandemic and is in line with the vision of King Mohammed VI of Morocco and his initiative addressed to heads of African states to achieve solidarity and cooperation between peoples to face the pandemic.

    Along this line, Ms. El Moussalli said that the pandemic had revealed the dire need for social cohesion and for more attention to human and social sciences as they have the capacity to foresee future transformations through monitoring and analyzing social changes. Then, the Minister reviewed the efforts the Kingdom of Morocco has made to address the repercussions of the crisis, particularly the establishment of the Special Fund for the Management of Coronavirus to support citizens affected by the pandemic, namely workers and the neediest categories.

    Moderating the virtual meeting, Ms. Ramata Almamy Mbaye, Director of Human and Social Sciences at ICESCO, stressed that the initiative seeks to spread knowledge and implement innovative programmes to build healthy, peaceful, prosperous, inclusive and resilient societies, thanking the participants for their support to the initiative and their keenness to attend its official launch.

    For his part, Dr. Jamal Edine El Hani, Dean of the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of Mohamed V University in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, affirmed that human sciences are integral to society and that they come into play in addressing Coronavirus. They are, Dr. El Hani added, an opportunity for us to think of the future which is connected to the present and get back to history to learn from our preceding generations expertise in dealing with similar pandemics, such as Spanish flu and cholera epidemic, to be able to handle similar situations in the future.

    Dr. Karim El Aynaoui, President of the Policy Center for New South, pointed out that organizations like ICESCO need to ask questions about how post-COVID-19 life will look like and reaffirmed that the true problem lies within “us” and our way of thinking and behaving and that this problem can be resolved through education.

    On the same token, Dr. Elmostafa Hadiya, professor of Psychology at Mohammed V University, stressed the need for influential strategies for individuals, especially in times of pandemics like Coronavirus.

    Daniel Béland, professor at the University McGill in Canada, pointed to the difference between the countries of the North and those of the South in dealing with the pandemic while stressing the need for giving due attention to the youth, the largest age category of the countries of the South, a positive point that needs to be used in fighting the pandemic.

    Ms. Hind Jalal, Resident Representative of UN Women in Cameroon, talked about the socioeconomic repercussions of the pandemic and its vast impact on the public and private sectors in most of the world’s countries, with women being the most affected category.

    In a similar tone, Dr. Bakary Sambe, Director of Timbuktu Institute, evoked the impact of disasters and crises, such as Coronavirus, on women more than children and families as a whole.

    At the close of the meeting, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General, thanked the participants, while pointing out that, during this pandemic, ICESCO invites everyone to join the “Comprehensive Humanitarian Coalition” initiative launched by the Organization. He also announced that ICESCO would launch a fellowship for research on Coronavirus pandemic.

    ICESCO Director General: we should turn this crisis into a gift to build the societies that we want

    **The pandemic revealed the weakness of the health systems and the vulnerability of our societies

    **We should take proactive measures and conduct foresight studies on the totally different post-Covid-19 world

    Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), reaffirmed that in spite of the heavy global losses caused by Covid-19, there are some gains that can turn this crisis into a gift through building the societies that we want. Besides, this pandemic will push us towards a drastic change in the prevailing concepts of society and its pillars, and the laws on human rights and the rights of humanity.

    This was an excerpt from Dr. AlMalik’s address at the launch of ICESCO’s new initiative “The Societies We Want”, held today on a distance platform with the participation of H.E. Dr. Lalla Malika Issoufou, First Lady of the Republic of Niger, HRH Princess Lamia bint Majed Saud Al-Saud, Secretary General of Alwaleed Philanthropies; H.E Mr. Mamadou Talla, Minister of Education and Illiteracy of the Republic of Senegal; H.E Ms. Jamila El Moussalli, Minister of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family; as well as a host of experts and specialists in human and social sciences and strategic foresight.

    In this regard, Dr. AlMalik stated that Covid-19 has kept peoples worldwide in an unprecedented lockdown not even seen during war times. “No one can predict its end or the change caused by this lockdown to the patterns of the social, economic, and political life and livelihood. If the pandemic continues for too long, the scale of change will be immense. The world will not be able to understand the scale of this change over the whole humanity until the end of the crisis. However, there are some clear changes seen through indicators and norms that revealed the weakness of the health systems among others in many countries which will lead to the reconsideration of strategies and promotion of the concepts of healthcare as a basis and a priority over technology, security and defense,” he added.

    Dr. AlMalik also stated that “we are confident that the post-Covid-19 world will be so different. This makes it imperative for us as countries, organizations, and civil society institutions to take proactive measures instead of giving up. We should build the societies we want. In spite of the preventive measures and tough decisions taken by many countries (poor or rich) to reduce the spread of Covid-19, such as the closure of schools and groceries, the disruption of many governmental sectors, and the imposition of lockdowns, the vulnerabilities that our societies suffering from have manifested in various patterns with the large spread of Covid-19. For instance, family violence has dramatically surge global disrupting societies and their delicate balances. This is perhaps a good opportunity during this exceptional global health situation to determine the fields that should be improved in order to build the societies we want”.

    Furthermore, Dr. AlMalik said that in this spirit, ICESCO has taken upon itself to launch initiatives as a means to empower the societies most in need for help and assistance so as to respond to the commitments related to Covid-19. “ICESCO has also established the “Comprehensive Humanitarian Coalition” which has had a large international response from countries, international organizations, civil society organizations and donors to attract the knowledge and technical capital to help these societies with urgent needs,” he highlighted.

    ICESCO Director General stressed that “the launch of the initiative of The Societies We Want initiative emanates from its sense of responsibility and the situation of the human and social sciences within our policies, programmes and daily conduct. This is the best time to build the human capital needed in our societies. We should unify our efforts in disseminating knowledge through the perceptions of our human and social sciences so as to empower the scientific exploration programmes to attain our objectives and build cohesive, prosperous and vital societies to fullfil our great motto “One World.. One Humanity” and to achieve our objectives in building the societies we want,” he added.

    Tomorrow: Official launch of the ICESCO Initiative “Societies We Want”

    The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) will launch on Thursday 30 April 2020, the “Societies We Want” Initiative. This virtual meeting will feature keynote speakers namely Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General; Dr. Lalla Malika Issoufou, First Lady of Niger; HRH Princess Lamia bint Majid AlSaud, Secretary General of Alwaleed Philanthropies; Mr. Mamadou Talla, Minister of Education of the Republic of Senegal; and Ms. Jamila El-Moussali, Minister of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family of the Kingdom of Morocco.

    In its introduction, ICESCO noted that Coronavirus pandemic added another dimension to the long list of crises that hit the world in the age of globalization. The Organization stated that this pandemic uncovered our weak points and made us rethink the way our societies function. The Organization further explained that during the last few decades, there have been many signs of complex crisis the world has faced, hinting on the critical need to take proactive measures in refitting how our societies adapt to realities on the ground.

    The Organization’s new initiative aims to spread knowledge, implement innovative programmes likely to contribute to building healthy, peaceful, vigilant, and inclusive societies that strive for prosperity, uphold sustainability and endeavor to change the future of humanity for the better. The dangers undermining peace and security, the economic crises and spread of poverty, climate change, and now the COVID-19 pandemic are all signs that our societies are at a critical turning point.

    The “Societies We Want” initiative will be officially launched at 10:00 GMT. The three-hour meeting will see the participation of the keynote speakers in addition to other speakers specializing in human and social sciences, mental health, and strategic foresight. Speakers include Ms. Ramata Almamy Mbey, Director of Human and Social Sciences at ICESCO; Prof. Jamal El-Edine El-Hani, Dean of the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences at Mohamed V University in Rabat; and Dr. Karim El Aynaoui, President of the Policy Center for the New South. The participants also include Prof. El-Mostafa Hadiya, Head of the Department of Psychology at Mohamed V University in Rabat; Prof Daniel Béland, Professor of Political Science at McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of Strategic Foresight Center at ICESCO; Ms. Hind Jalal, Resident Representative of UN Women in Cameroon; and Dr. Bakary Sambe, Director of Timbuktu Institute.

    The invitation is open to the public through virtual meeting on Zoom platform at the following link:
    https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83937495557?pwd=VEZzKzhkK3FnbFdIMDhGckg3UWtCdz09

    The meeting is also available as a live broadcast on ICESCO’s official Facebook page at:
    https://www.facebook.com/ICESCO.Ar

    Alwaleed Philanthropies and ICESCO support ten African countries in their fight against COVID-19 pandemic

    Alwaleed Philanthropies, chaired by H.R.H. Prince Alwaleed ben Talal ben Abdulaziz Al Saud, allocated 2.3 million US dollars to support the initiatives and projects of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) aimed at assisting ten African countries in their fight against COVID-19 pandemic and supporting their efforts to mitigate the virus’s current and future impacts.

    On this vein, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General, extended his appreciation and gratitude to H.R.H. Prince Alwaleed ben Talal and Alwaleed Philanthropies on behalf of the Member States benefitting from their dedicated efforts and sustained generosity. He added that the most recent example of this philanthropic gestures is the announcement that Alwaleed Philanthropies joined the global community in its efforts to fight the Coronavirus with a generous donation of 30 million US dollars.

    The Director General also stated that the donation was directed towards a variety of initiatives aiming at fighting COVID-19, in cooperation with several partners and international organizations, including ICESCO. It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time the Organization and Alwaleed Philanthropies work together, having already co-organized joint educational and social caravans for the benefit of the most vulnerable groups in the Member States.

    For its part, Alwaleed Philanthropies announced that its fruitful cooperation with ICESCO would be geared at helping ease the suffering of those affected economically due to COVID-19 outbreak and raise awareness of the importance of hygiene in developing countries.

    Based on ICESCO’s plans and projects, the support will be provided to the following countries: the Sudan, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Nigeria, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. The funding will be directly invested in increasing production capacities of sanitizers, protective masks, respirators, and empowering young entrepreneurs in private and local sectors.

    Forum of “AI and the Fight against Covid-19: between challenges and opportunities” kicks off

    ICESCO Director General: Covid-19 has shown that world needs AI technology

    The Organization will support Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Member States within an ethical framework that respects human being

    ICESCO has launched many studies on the Post-Covid-19 scenarios

    Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), reaffirmed that the Organization would support Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Member States within an ethical framework that respects human being and the individual freedoms and privacies.  In turn, this technology becomes an advocate of peoples’ development without any prejudice to the ethical limits that infringe on human liberty and dignity.

    An excerpt from the ICESCO Director General’s address to the Virtual Forum “AI and the Fight against Covid-19: between challenges and opportunities”, organized today by ICESCO, in partnership with AI Civic Forum. The Forum explored AI potentials in countering natural disasters and health crises, including Covid-19, in addition to strategic foresight in this field.

    Dr. AlMalik stressed that the attention paid by ICESCO to the foresight and its technologies and sciences is based on tremendous and responsible awareness about the coming generations through the constructive and non-conformist intellectual methods without engaging in politics or politicization of the urgent humanitarian issues and challenges.  Also, supporting and giving paramount importance to innovation to build the future based on collective creative and intellectual foundations benefit the public in the short, medium and long terms.

    Additionally, ICESCO Director General stated that even before Covid-19 crisis the Organization has started to have an interest in the future and its prospects. “ICESCO established the Center of Strategic Foresight and developed a new vision based on proactive and anticipatory action in dealing with the development issues.

    ICESCO’s proactive action is evident by the launch of many studies on the post-Covid-19 scenarios and the future of the Islamic world among other strategic and anticipatory studies that aim to build the future,” he stressed.

    Dr. AlMalik further stated that “as we tackle the parameters of the future, we cannot overlook IA as one of the significant strategic interventions proven to promptly counter the pandemic crisis with the utilization of smart technology.

    Considering the huge role of AI in building the future, ICESCO has started to:

    -Disseminate its applications and technologies in Member States and friendly countries;

    -Conduct anticipatory strategic study on AI in the Islamic world;

    -Establish ICESCO AI Center;

    -Schedule workshops in cooperation with AI Civic Forum.

    Moreover, Dr. AlMalik stated that Covid-19 caused drastic effects on the daily lives of the various social groups, and obliged countries to adopt new methods that respond to the requirements of the health situations to the detriment of other vital areas. “This has brought new challenges that compel us to reconsider our perspective of the future as we seek solutions for this crisis.  A new mechanism points towards a more unified, fair, and equitable humanitarian approach in supporting the poor and vulnerable groups,” he stressed.

    Furthermore, Dr. AlMalik underscored that ICESCO, as the development beacon of the Islamic world, did not remain inactive before this pandemic. “The Organization has rather taken an active position based on proactive field action to support Member States, particularly those suffering from poverty and having weak health systems.  These efforts have yielded many achievements in record time.   Most notable among these practical initiatives and projects: ICESCO Prize for the Fight against Covid-19; the Comprehensive Humanitarian Coalition; ICESCO Digital Home; the establishment of several small factories for the production of low-cost sanitizers in the poorer countries, particularly in Africa; the distribution of a set of modern technological tools such as thermal cameras, distance thermometers, and AI applications to help stop the spread of the virus,” he added.